


Linked together

by DaZeli



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, Minimal Self-Harm, soulmate mark au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 16:46:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5750662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaZeli/pseuds/DaZeli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek and William are soulmates.<br/>Dex denies everything, Nursey searches at the wrong place, but eventually they fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Linked together

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so this a soulmate au I've been working on for a while. I actually wrote a more hurt version, but my friend prefered this version so this is the one that get posted!
> 
> For those wondering about the self-harm warning (spoilers): Dex scratches his mark in anger/stress and it leaves marks, but it's the kind of scratches that goes away eventually and disappear completely if you leave them alone. It's not the focus of the story at all.
> 
> A big thanks to [sadquebecois](http://sadquebecois.tumblr.com/) for betaing this! Enjoy!

Soulmates had existed since the beginning of history. Ancient civilizations largely ignored them, so most people consider soulmates a phenomenon of the modern times.

It is, in a way. Soulmates have never been this important in history, people didn’t care about the fact that somewhere in the world, there was someone meant for you.

The way it works is that you are born without a mark. You only get your soulmate mark when you actually meet them. Some travel far and wide to meet people, but in most cases, you meet your soulmate by living your life like you normally would. But people do have to grab the chance when it comes.

The mark can appear in any place on the human body and they vary in size and font, if you can call it that. Usually, it’s written in the soulmate’s handwriting, but it happens often that the name was written in someone else’s hand; like a secretary or their mother and in this era, even in typed fonts.

Today people go out of their way to find their soulmate. It’s a business. Some people make it their job to help others find their soulmate. On the other side of the coin, there are also people whose job are to erase soulmate names.

Derek had been very young when he understood the concepts of soulmates. He had always liked it; he thought it was romantic and poetic in a way. He always wished that the day he would meet his soulmate would be a good one — that he would be happy forever from then on.

He also wondered who his soulmate was, what they looked like. Later on, when he got older, he also started wondering if his soulmate was a boy or a girl, how old they were, and when they would meet. When he started to pick up poetry, he wrote poems to this person he didn’t know but still knew he would love.

Derek had this whole idea of what meeting his soulmate would be. It was cheesy and sounded like it was straight from a sappy romance novel, but he liked it that way. He was expecting love at first sight followed by an exchange of smiles and then a pleasant conversation before a promise to meet again to go on a date.

Nothing went has he had planned at all.

-*-

William had never understood the concept of soulmates. He didn’t get why they were so important or why people were desperate to look for them. William thought soulmates were useless and wished he would never meet whichever girl his parents kept telling him about.

Because even if he didn’t care about soulmates, his parents did. They always told him about how when he met her, it would be love at first sight, and that when they were adults they would get married and have kids. William never told them that he didn’t care about girls or getting married and having kids.

So William hated his soulmate, even if he didn’t know them. Love was a foreign concept he didn’t want and didn’t care to know about. All he wanted was to live his life without feeling forced to find someone he didn’t care about.

He didn’t even get that.

-*-

They meet on the tadpole tour for the hockey team. They didn’t notice it, all they felt was a weird sensation — Derek on his hip and William on his thigh. It didn’t hurt, it only felt slightly uncomfortable for a while, so they didn’t bother to check. They only found out when they were back home.

Nursey found his mark when he was getting in the shower that night. He looked at it for a moment and took in the scribed ‘William’ on his hip, right above his hip bone. He could read it, but the writing wasn’t anything remarkable or pretty. It was cursive yet straight, very fast and to-the-point. He didn’t remember who William was; he hadn’t actually learned the first names of anyone because they were calling each other by their last names.

So Nursey spent all night trying to remember the face of everyone and to see which one looked like a possible William.

On his side, Dex noticed the neatly and beautifully written name on the inside of his thigh when he was changing to go to bed. The handwriting was a neat cursive, like a signature from a movie. It wouldn’t have bothered Dex that much, he could easily ignore it and hide it. What he couldn’t ignore was that the name wasn’t a girl’s name, but a boy’s name: Derek.

William didn’t know who Derek was — he hadn’t heard the name on the tour so he had no idea who it could be — but he did know that he already didn’t like him, and for more than one reason.

For now, he would do his best to hide it, which shouldn’t be difficult. At least his mark wasn’t in a visible place.

-*-

They met again at the beginning of freshman year, where they actually learned each other’s names before getting their new nicknames. Nursey learned that William was Dex, and even if he knew they were both soulmates, he thought that there was no way it could be this William.

First off, Dex honest to God _hated_ him. He didn’t know why, but every time Nursey looked at Dex, he looked at him as if he wanted to punch him in the face. Dex looked angry, pissed, tense, and much too uptight for Nursey’s taste.

There was also the fact that Dex argued with him all the time. They couldn’t agree on anything. Dex was way too uptight all the time and couldn’t take a joke. Nursey honestly did not believe it was possible for Dex to be his soulmate.

Nursey was also convinced Dex was straight. There was no way someone as conservative and stuck up as Dex could be into dudes; he was too touchy, and although he never said anything against gay people — probably not to hurt Bitty’s feelings — he still had a Samwell Republican sticker on his laptop, and that said a lot.

So Nursey convinced himself that Dex wasn’t his soulmate, and that William was probably another guy on the tour that wasn’t on the team. Nursey hoped that he would be able to find him, if he was even on campus.

Luckily, Ransom and Holster seemed determined to help him find William once Dex declared that he didn’t have a name. They were forced to believe him, because trying to “subtly” look at Dex in the locker room and not finding anything proved it for them and Nursey, too.

However, no matter how hard they tried, Ransom and Holster couldn’t find the William with Derek’s name on him. So Nursey assumed that William wasn’t at Samwell.

“When do you think you met him?” Holster asked.

“On the tadpole tour, I think, maybe at the welcoming visit earlier. I don’t know, but it was that day for sure.” Nursey replied.

“Well, if he wanted to be on the team and didn’t get in, maybe he’s on another hockey team somewhere else,” Ransom said.

“Maybe. We could always post a message on the internet — it usually works.” Holster added.

They did just that, but even if it got shared a thousand times, there was no news that could lead them to William. So they gave up.

“Destiny will bring you back together eventually, don’t worry. It did that for me and Rans.” Holster told.

“Yeah, we met at Niagara Falls one summer and only found each other years later,” Ransom added.

Nursey shrugged it off. They were probably right. Except there was still the possibility that William was right there, shooting daggers at him with his piercing amber eyes.

But Nursey didn’t want to think about it.

-*-

When Dex found out who Derek was, he made it a point to get it across that he hated him from day one. Dex fought, argued, and pushed Nursey away from him as best he could. It worked quite well, because Nursey didn’t even believe he was his soulmate, and everyone on the team thought he didn’t have a name yet.

Dex was glad he was able to keep Nursey away, but that didn’t change the fact that his name was right there, on his inner thigh. The fact he saw it every time he would change clothes or go to the bathroom drove him insane. He wished he was old enough to go erase it.

Sometimes in the shower, he would scratch it in frustration, as if it would make it go away, and it was enough to leave marks. It hurt a little, but he thought that maybe if he scratched enough, the name would go away.

Of course, it didn’t. All it did was make Dex’s thigh hurt, so he stopped. It wasn’t like the name would disappear anytime soon anyway. Whatever he did, the name was still clearly visible, as if unaffected by the scratches. That angered him, so he fueled this anger into his arguments with Nursey to keep him distant.

But at some point, Dex was so sure Nursey didn’t believe him to be his soulmate that he gradually got less angry. Everyone believed he had no name, and Nursey having his name didn’t mean anything anymore. He calmed down a bit, and with Chowder’s mediation, let himself become friends with Nursey.

Well, ‘friends’ was a big word. Dex would only say they were on better terms, but if that’s what Chowder wanted to call them, then sure. As long as Nursey didn’t start thinking they were soulmates.

-*-

The sudden turnaround from Dex made Nursey lose his balance at first. He didn’t understand why Dex wasn’t as pushy or uptight anymore, but Nursey was glad he was less angry all the time, considering they had to play together. They played much better now, as a matter of fact.

They integrated sitting together on roadies into their pre-game rituals and a bunch of other stuff they didn’t usually do before, like actually being civil with each other, and this was when Nursey realized that maybe, just maybe, Dex might be his soulmate.

It was just a slim possibility, but Nursey couldn’t help but notice the way Dex had changed; he didn’t seem so uptight anymore. He was less stressed and less angry; he didn’t shoot daggers at him with his eyes whenever he talked — only when they were in a heated argument. Most of the time, Dex was looking at him like anyone else would.

Plus, Derek couldn’t suppress the warm feeling he got when he was close to Dex. It was comfortable and made him feel content.

But if Dex was his soulmate, that meant that Dex wasn’t straight and Dex knew it. Nursey didn’t know what to do with this information; if anything, he was confused. If Dex wasn’t straight, then why was he so conservative and so, well, straightlaced? Was Dex really not straight, or was he wrong and Dex really wasn’t his soulmate?

The only way to make it clear was to find — or not — his name on Dex’s body, but all the body parts they could see he had already searched, breaking the rule of the locker room. That could only mean two things: either the name was in a very improbable place, or Dex really didn’t have a name.

Now he had to find a way to be able to check Dex naked, but Dex probably wouldn’t let him do that. He might as well give up on it, and he did give up on his plan, but not on the idea of getting Dex naked. That wouldn’t leave his mind.

That’s how Nursey realized how much he actually loved and wanted Dex; the thought of kissing him, touching him and undressing him, looking at every bit of skin until he found his name written on Dex… If Dex ever found out about these dirty thoughts, he would probably kill him. Or maybe not.

-*-

Once he had let Nursey into his space and they actually became friends, Dex didn’t even feel it when love hit him in the face.

It started with getting comfortable around Nursey — being able to relax, chill, like Nursey would say. Then they got closer, spent time together studying or just watching shows together. They started texting a lot, had pre-game rituals that included each other. Dex let himself smile with Nursey, joke around, chirp, talk normally. Basically, what they should have been doing since day one.

Dex only realised that he maybe had feelings for Nursey when Nursey fell asleep on his shoulder on a bus ride. He felt a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach, and then he panicked. He woke Nursey up, and after their game, he started avoiding him and being angry again.

But it didn’t work, the feeling was still there and wasn’t going away, so Dex became more and more stressed. He even started scratching the name again sometimes, and he was very jumpy and on edge. He felt vulnerable, and he didn’t like it, but he couldn’t do anything about it either. He didn’t know how.

The worst part was that Nursey didn’t let himself be pushed away again. The only explanation was that Nursey was feeling the same thing for him and was probably thinking that Dex was his soulmate again.

Which Dex would probably actually like. He couldn’t lie about it to himself. He did like it when he and Nursey were in close proximity, when their thighs were touching on the bus, and when they were both sitting on a dorm bed, too close for comfort, trying to watch a movie.

Dex was in too deep to get himself out now.

-*-

Nursey felt off balance when Dex started pushing him away again. He really thought that Dex should make up his mind and decide if he wanted to be his friend or not, until he realized how half-hearted Dex’s attempts at pushing him away were.

He also noticed how Dex honest-to-God blushed when they were close, how he would sneak shy glances, and how he tried way too hard to be angry. It made Nursey chuckle — Dex acted like a teenage girl in love, and he found it utterly adorable. Until Dex started avoiding him for real.

Every time Nursey would invite him over, Dex would refuse, pretending that he was busy. When Nursey joined him and Chowder somewhere, even at the Haus, Dex would leave in a hurry. It was like Dex didn’t know how to talk to him anymore. He was shy and stressed out way too much for his own good.

Nursey didn’t know what to do, so he went to Shitty for advice.

“One day he was chilling out with me in my room watching CSI and the next he was avoiding me! I don’t know what to do, Shits,” Nursey had told him.

“Dude’s in love with you. It’s pretty obvious,” Shitty had replied.

“That’s impossible, and you know it,” Nursey said.

“And yet you have his name on your hip.”

“It’s not him.”

“Are you sure about that?” Shitty asked.

Nursey didn’t reply.

“Y’see, we have a list of people that go on the tadpole tour. Lardo is in charge of that, so I asked her to dig it up for me. Turns out there was only one William on the tour. He is right here at Samwell, and you play hockey with him,” Shitty told him.

“No way…” Nursey said, eyes wide.

“Yep. I didn’t say anything because I was waiting for you two to get your shit together, but I can’t stand all of your pinning. Just fucking go for it bro,” Shitty said.

“But how do I prove it to him? I don’t know where my name is on him and he’ll probably deny it,” Nursey said.

“Your mark is handwritten, right?” Shitty asked, Nursey nodded. “So just find something he wrote his name on and compare. Technically, it should be the same.”

Nursey got up from the chair he was sitting on, quickly grabbing his things.

“Shits, you’re a fucking genius! I gotta go now, I need to go find my soulmate!” Nursey said before leaving as Shitty was giving him a huge grin.

-*-

Nursey ran to Dex’s dorm and knocked on the door insistently. His heart was beating fast in his chest, both from the running and the fact that he would finally get to know if Dex was his soulmate or not.

When Dex opened the door, Nursey went straight in.

“What the fuck, Nurse!?” Dex said.

Nursey didn’t even reply and started to search around his desk, looking at the papers that were there. Dex had no idea what he was searching for, but he was feeling nervous all of a sudden.

When he found an old test Dex had done, Nursey looked at the name. The way Dex had written it was exactly the same as his mark. He lifted his shirt and showed his mark and the paper side by side to Dex.

Dex blushed a deep shade of red that Nursey thought was beautiful.

“Shitty reminded me that our marks are usually in the soulmate’s handwriting. He also told me that he checked the list of the people present at the tadpole tour last year, and that you were the only one named William. You know where I’m going with this, right?” he told Dex, putting the paper back on the desk.

Dex sighed and nodded, sitting on his bed, looking down at the floor.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Nursey asked, sitting next to him.

Dex took a deep breath and started explaining.

“I never cared about soulmates. I didn’t even want one. I hated the idea of being tied down to someone. I just wanted to do my own things, but my parents were always so excited for the day I would meet my soulmate…

“They told me about love and marriage and children and all that — how ‘wonderful’ it is to meet your soulmate, and I just… didn’t want part in any of that. So when I got your name, I got angry and frustrated that I couldn’t get away from it.” Dex told him, avoiding meeting Nursey’s eyes.

Nursey looked at Dex. He was blushing bright red and looked shy and hesitant but also incredibly tense.

“And what about now? Is it different?” Nursey asked him.

“Yes… I guess. I don’t know how to describe how I feel. I’ve never felt like that, and it’s confusing. I don’t know how to deal with it,” Dex replied.

“I think I can help with that,” Nursey said.

At that moment Dex looked up at him, and Nursey didn’t give him the time to ask what. He pressed their lips together in a soft light, kiss. The kiss didn’t last long, but when Nursey pulled away, Dex looked at him for a second before grabbing his collar and pulling him into another kiss, deeper and much more passionate than Nursey was expecting.

They kissed again and again. Nursey felt the tension leave Dex’s shoulders and before he knew it, Dex was straddling him. When Nursey pulled away, he smiled at Dex who looked completely gone; his pupils were blown, his breathing was heavy, and he was clearly turned on.

“So, I’m assuming it helped,” Nursey told him with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Dex breathed out. “Yeah.”

Nursey put his hands on Dex’s hips, bringing him closer.

“You know, since we’re soulmates, I think I should be able to see my name on you. Will you tell me where it is?” Nursey asked.

“No,” Dex replied, smirking.

“Why not?”

“It’s not somewhere I can just _show_ you,” Dex told him.

“Then I’ll have to discover it myself,” Nursey said.

“Go ahead, I won’t stop you,” Dex replied as they started kissing again.

They kissed for a few long minutes, until they had to break away for air. Nursey maneuvered them so Dex would be under him on the bed. He started undressing him while leaving soft kisses on his skin. Dex was making little sounds of pleasure as Nursey was covering his body in kisses, sucking a hickey from time to time and nibbling on the available skin as he was searching for the name.

The name clearly wasn’t on his upper body. Dex was already hard in his pants, so Nursey moved down and removed them as he kissed his way down. That’s when he found it; his name, neatly written on Dex’s inner thigh, away from prying eyes, only for him to see.

On further inspection, Nursey noticed the scratch marks. There were a lot of them, some more recent than others, and they spread everywhere around his name on Dex’s thigh.

“Dex?” he asked, serious.

“Yes?” Dex asked back.

“What are these?” Nursey asked, pointing at the marks.

“I — uhm… After I got your name, I started scratching it when I was stressed…” Dex told him.

“You’ve been stressed lately?”

“Yeah…”

“Then I’ll do my best to make sure you’re not stressed to that point anymore,” Nursey told him as he bowed to kiss the mark, making Dex shiver and let out another little sound of pleasure. After that, Nursey went back up to kiss Dex’s lips again, as his hand was caressing the mark.

Dex was naked on his own bed and Nursey was still fully dressed. Dex declared it unfair, so he started to undress Nursey. His actions were unsure and hesitant. Nursey knew Dex had never done this before, so he tried to guide him as best he could.

Dex’s mouth was all over him, kissing, sucking, biting. Nursey let out soft moans. He was still caressing Dex’s inner thighs, making Dex moan as well. Nursey let his hand go up and fist Dex’s cock, making Dex let out a small gasp that quickly turned into a moan as Nursey started stroking him.

Dex followed Nursey’s lead and stroked Nursey’s dick, making him moan against Dex’s skin as he was sucking hickeys on his neck. Nursey would have gladly sucked his dick, but he didn’t want to overwhelm Dex, so he stuck to the handjob.

As they kept going, Nursey could feel himself and Dex leaking. In a last minute decision, Nursey decided to rub himself against Dex and Dex moaned loudly and leaked a little more. They kept rubbing against each other until they both came in a mixture of grunts and moans.

Nursey took a few tissues and cleaned himself and Dex, before laying down next to him.

“This was great,” Dex said as he was looking at the ceiling.

“It was,” Nursey replied. “I guess we’re a thing now, hm?”

“I guess so, I mean, we’re soulmates.”

“You wanna tell the team or nah?” Nursey asked.

“How about we let them find out on their own? I don’t really want to make an announcement, but I do want to hold your hand and kiss you,” Dex replied.

“Hmhm fine with me,” Nursey smiled.

There was brief silence before Dex spoke again.

“Maybe we should call each other by our names?”

“Sure, William,” Nursey smiled.

“Wanna stay over, Derek?” Dex asked back, smiling and blushing.

“Absolutely. I didn’t plan on leaving anyway,” Nursey replied.

Nursey cuddled Dex under the covers, and Dex shut off the lights before giving Nursey a good night kiss.

-*-

It took about a week for the team to notice something was different. Of course, it was Chowder who caught on it first.

“Guys, can I ask both of you something?” Chowder asked them at Haus breakfast.

“Yeah, what is it C?” Nursey asked back.

“Hm, I know you said you weren’t, but are you guys soulmates?” Chowder asked.

“Yeah,” Dex replied first.

Chowder’s face lit up like Christmas decorations, Holster almost spat his drink, Ransom almost choked on his toast, Bitty and Lardo smiled, and Jack raised a brow.

“Fuck yeah!” Shitty said, slapping his hand on the table. “About fucking time!”

“Wait, so we’ve been searching for William like dumbasses when he was there all along!?” Holster exclaimed.

“But didn’t Dex say he didn’t have a name? We weren’t able to find one on him either,” Ransom said.

“Oh, he has my name, believe me. It’s just… very private,” Nursey explained, letting one hand caress Dex’s inner thigh where his name was, making Dex blush and shiver.

“TMI, bro,” Ransom replied.

“Well, I’m just glad you found each other,” Bitty told them.

“Guys, this is great! I’m so happy for you both!!!” Chowder told them.

Dex smiled, a little shy because of all the attention they were getting. Nursey took his hand and smiled as well before he tugged to get Dex closer and kissed him. The team exploded, but they didn’t care. Dex replied to the kiss, and it took a little while before they broke away to finish their breakfast, Dex blushing a deep shade of scarlet and Nursey smiling smugly.

It may not have been the romantic encounter Derek had wished for when he was younger, but right now, Nursey couldn’t care less. He was in love and that was the important part.

And Dex may not have gotten his soulmate-less life, but what he got, in his honest opinion, was much better. Turns out love wasn’t so bad after all.


End file.
